Cromer Church gives up giving up for Lent

Members of Cromer Church have set themselves the challenge of completing various acts of generosity in the community this Lent.

Many of the parishioners have signed up for ‘40acts’, a generosity challenge created by the charity Stewardship, which encourages participants to do at least one different act of kindness each day of Lent. The challenge was followed nationally by over 100,000 people last year between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, notching up an estimated 4 million generous acts in that time.

To kick off the challenge Cromer Church gave out ‘Love Heart’ sweets last week outside the Parish Church. This marked the start of their challenge, during which '40activists' receive a daily email with their challenge and a thought for the day from one of 40 chosen Christian authors, leaders and celebrities.

Other activities during Lent will include:

Encouraging people to bless their workplace or neighbourhood with a chocolatey gift

Providing a listening ear and opportunity for prayer - with hot refreshments outside the Parish Church and/or around Cromer,

Promoting community engagement by organising a beach clean,

Offering practical help in the local community,

Encouraging shoppers at a local supermarket to give a little extra in support of their local Food-bank,

Promoting Easter by giving away free Easter Eggs and inviting people to Sunday services at the church.

Simon Fenn, Head of Mission, right, said:

“Last year’s response to our 40acts challenge was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. People were genuinely touched by our simple acts of kindness and generosity, whether it was doing a community beach clean, giving out free chocolate bars or supporting the Cromer food-bank, praying with people on the street, giving away free Easter eggs or just being a listening ear. They loved the fact that we valued them and were willing to make a personal connection.

“We hope that during this 40-day challenge we will be able to demonstrate our faith in practical ways, make a positive difference and inspire people to approach Lent differently - don't just give up, give out!

“As well as doing individual acts of kindness, we have organised some creative events to engage with the wider community. We will be sharing ours acts of random kindness on social media, watch this space! Search for #Cromer40Acts on Twitter or check our Facebook page.”

Stewardship’s 40acts challenge has grown in popularity since the Christian charity first launched it in 2010. Nine years on and millions of acts of generosity later, the challenge continues to astonish the team behind it.

Debbie Wright, Head of Content at Stewardship said:

“Every year more and more people choose to do Lent generously, using generous acts to demonstrate their faith in the lead up to Easter. We never cease to be amazed at the creativity and kindness that we see, as people start to share their stories on social media. It’s great to see Cromer Church taking up the challenge and making a generous difference to the community of North Norfolk this Lent.”